Pasadena Public Library to Offer Free Summer Meals and Activities for Youth

Jefferson Branch Library (Photo – cityofpasadena)

Pasadena Public Library will participate in Lunch at the Library for its sixth year this summer, providing free, healthy meals and educational activities for children and teens throughout the community.

By News Desk

Lunch at the Library, a project of the California State Library supported by funding from the State of California, offers free meals to children and youth ages 18 and younger during the summer months.

Two Pasadena Public Library locations will serve as meal sites: Jefferson Branch Library, 1500 E. Villa Street, and Villa Parke Branch Library, 363 E. Villa Street, Second Floor. Meals and activities will be available Monday through Friday from June 8 through August 14, excluding July 3, between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

The program is designed to address food insecurity during the summer while promoting literacy and learning. In addition to providing meals, Pasadena Public Library will distribute books to children and teens at various locations throughout the city where free lunch programs are offered, helping young people build their home libraries.

By combining food access with reading opportunities, the program aims to provide two essential resources for success in school and beyond: healthy nutrition and literacy.

Lunch at the Library also offers enrichment activities intended to support literacy development and encourage a lifelong love of reading. Activities available during meal service may include STEAM projects, art, crafts, homestead activities, nutrition and wellness programming, movies, games, music, and play-based activities.

Free lunches and activities are available on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last.

The Summer Food Service Program is a program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is administered in California by the California Department of Education. Lunch at the Library is a project of the California State Library and is supported with funds from the State of California.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.